PUBL.- Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan: Repression and Mobilization in a Post-Soviet Context, Sofie Bedford

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies

PUBL.- Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan, Sofie Bedford

Posted by: Sofie Bedford <sofie_aurora@yahoo.se>

Islamic Activism in Azerbaijan: Repression and Mobilization in a
Post-Soviet Context
By Sofie Bedford

Series: Stockholm studies in politics, Södertörn Doctoral
Dissertations, Södertörn Political Studies
ISBN: 978-91-7155-800-8
Published by: Stockholm University
Publication year: 2009
Pages: 229

About the book:

The beginning of independence in post-Soviet Azerbaijan saw very
little in the way of national restrictions on, and control of,
religion until the mid-1990s when the authorities, prompted by a
perceived threat from "imported" radical Islamic ideas, initiated a
harsher policy towards religious practitioners. Some Muslim
communities questioning this line of action became major targets of
state intervention. Utilizing social movement theory this doctoral
dissertation analyzes the mobilization of two of these groups, the
Shi'ite Juma mosque community and the Sunni Abu Bakr mosque community
in Baku. By means of an analytical framework focusing on a number of
aspects pertinent to mobilization -- organizational, cognitive,
political, extrinsic as well as interactional -- the study concludes
that even though Islamic activism in post-Soviet Azerbaijan is
multi-faceted the key to understanding its development is at the
national level. The popularity of these mosques, as well as the
authorities' aversion towards them, is due to them symbolizing
something new in the Azerbaijani society. First, in the field of
religion where they are an attractive alternative to outmoded
state-controlled mosques and second in society at large where many
young people have been disillusioned by the failed promises of
independence. At the same time the study shows major differences in
the mobilization processes of these communities and underscores the
danger in assuming that all Islamic activism can be understood in the
same way. Finally, on a theoretical note, the book highlights the
important role of a repressive state as the catalyst to mobilization
of a social movement in a non-democratic context.

Contents:

- Introduction
- Social Movement Mobilization: Organization, Cognition and Context
- Mobilization as a Reciprocal Relationship
- The Research Process
- Soviet Islam: Bourgeoisie Nationalism or Local Traditions?
- Official and Unofficial Islam in the Post-Soviet Azerbaijani Context
- Mobilization and Organization: Free Spaces for Young Seekers
- Mobilization and Identity: Representing a New Religious Reality
- Mobilization and Political Structure: Democratic Deficiency and
Strict Secularism
- The Interaction Context: Fear of Opposition Creates "Strange Bedfellows"
- Mobilization and Extrinsic Influence: Radical 'Wahhabis',
Revolutionary Iranians and Compliant Turks
- Islamic Activism in Different Post-Soviet Contexts: A Comparative Outlook

Conclusions

About the author:

Sofie Bedford is a researcher affiliated to the Department of
Political Science at Stockholm University, the School of Social
Sciences at Södertörn University and the Center for Baltic and East
European Studies at Södertörn University. This is her doctoral dissertation.

The book is available for download as a pdf-file at:
http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:200259

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